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By ANTONY GITONGA
Nakuru: Two people died and scores of others including a police officer were injured in a road accident involving three vehicles on the busy Nairobi-Nakuru highway.
The accident near the Naivasha GK prison flyover saw a traffic police speed-gun worth millions of shillings also damaged.
The early morning accident left scores of flower farm workers seriously injured and were rushed to various hospitals.
The accident occurred after a lorry ferrying oranges to Nakuru from Nairobi developed a mechanical problem as it drove downhill.
Joseph Chege, a driver of a personal car said the lorry thit the side of his vehicle before going out of control. “The lorry was in high speed and after hitting my car, it left the road and hit a group of flower farm workers heading to work,” he said. Mr Chege added that the lorry went ahead to hit a Probox ferrying the police officer who had the speed gun dragging the vehicle for over 20m before it came to a halt.
“The Probox was parked on the side of the road waiting to join the highway when the lorry hit it,” said the shaken driver.
A victim, Faith Njeri, narrated how she heard a loud bang before she was thrown in the air and later covered with sacks of oranges.
“We were in a group of around ten when the lorry hit us and we were saved by members of the public who took us to hospital,” said the flower farm worker.
At the Naivasha District Hospital, it was tears for the victims and relatives as medical personnel worked over board to assist the injured.
Speaking on phone, Naivasha OCPD Charles Kortok said the injured police officer and one of the flower farm workers had been transferred to Kijabe Mission Hospital.
He added that the speed-gun, which has been instrumental in dealing with speeding cases on the highway, had been damaged.
“The speed gun has been damaged and those injured rushed to various hospitals but the driver of the lorry escaped from the scene,” he said.
